It is known to provide canopy or cover systems for boats to protect the interior from inclement weather. Few available cover systems are for pontoon boats. An example of one, however, is prior art U.S. Pat. No. 6,260,505—Polidan. It comprises a frame assembly bearing resemblance to campground tents. The frame assembly comprises a series of A-framed rafters connected rigidly tied together at their crowns by a ridge pole, which ridge pole at its forward and rearward ends connects to fore and aft guy-poles. All of the bottom ends of the A-framed rafters and guy-poles are inserted into sockets provided by brackets attached to the gunwales (or top hand rails) of the pontoon boat. Every intersection between the ridgepole and any rafter is preferably connected by a four way fitting. Col. 3, line 1. The connections between the ridge-pole and guy-poles requires at least a two-way fitting.
Shortcomings with the prior art include the length of time and number of steps it takes to erect the framework assembly from a disassembled state. It appears if the A-framed rafters, ridge pole and guy-poles either have to be sized to fit at the factory for a specific model of boat or otherwise, at home, the job will certainly be a two person job.
It also appears if the A-framed rafters are not self-supporting on one leg alone:—that is, it appears as if each A-framed rafter requires both legs planted in the starboard and port socket therefor before it truly can be self-standing. It furthermore appears if the A-framed rafters are not independently strong enough to withstand the pontoon boat being trailered down the roadway at highway speeds. That is, the pressure on the textile cover over the bow of the boat at highway speed is likely to buckle the A-framed rafters over backwardly:—hence that is why there is inclusion of the ridge pole as well as the fore and aft guy poles. It moreover appears if the task of connecting up the ridge and guy poles with the spaced apart A-framed rafters would best be handled by two persons working together, and still take as long as one person along who is just setting up the A-frame rafters.
It appears if all the pressure required to keep any pole (ridge, guy or A-frame) inserted in its sockets is supplied only by lashing down the textile cover. In other words, until the cover is lashed down, it appears if any pole can readily be slipped out of its socket. That would tend to make the task of stretching the textile cover over the bare framework a harder job for one person than several. That is, one person working alone has to drag the cover over the bare framework just to get the cover in place for lashing. The act of dragging the cover over the bare framework unless done with some care appears to present a great chance of unseating some of the poles out of their sockets.
On boats with Bimini tops, the collapsed supports cover up the top rail along the starboard and port sides. Hence there is no room to attach brackets in accordance with the prior art under such a collapsed Bimini top.
It also appears if the prior art pontoon boat canopy system is a rather tall structure. That is, once erected, any pontoon boat covered by such might be taller than the standard eight foot (˜2.4 m) door openings common to most rental boat lockers. That is, for many homeowners, if their pontoon boat cover system is too tall, they can forget about pulling into town after vacation and immediately parking the boat in their rented boat locker. The first thing they will have to do is take down the cover system.
What is needed is a solution to the shortcomings of the prior art.